Kristof Willerton will head back to his parents’ home in Gloucester this weekend as a world champion.

The 24-year-old, who moved to Andover in Hampshire last year, was part of the Great Britain four-man tumbling team that have just won gold in the world championships in Sofia in Bulgaria.

He was partnered by Greg Townley, Elliott Browne and Kallum Mulhall and they certainly proved to be a fab four as they produced a faultless performance.

The team completed three routines in the high-pressure final and each was executed superbly to outclass the opposition and score 112.5 points for pole position ahead of China and Denmark.

For the experienced Willerton, a former pupil at Sir Thomas Rich’s School, the spotlight on him was even greater.

“I was the last one to compete,” he said, “so I knew if I landed my run that we’d win. But that brought with it a lot pressure.”

Fortunately, Willerton was more than up to the task and Britain were able to win their first world tumbling team gold for 12 years – in the days when the sport was centrally funded.

The intervening years have been dominated by the Russians and Chinese, countries where the sport of tumbling enjoys a much higher profile than on these shores.

Nevertheless, Willerton and his pals had high hopes of collecting a medal in the Bulgarian capital.

“We went into the competition with the strongest team we’ve ever had,” he said. “I thought we’d have a chance of pushing for a silver medal but to win gold was very unexpected. We all hit cleans runs and did very good routines.”

Willerton, whose dad Jeff is very well known in Stroud football circles – he’s the fixtures and results secretary for the Stroud Football League as well as being Stroud Charity cup secretary – came very close to adding an individual medal in Sofia to his team gold.

“I did so well but one small mistake cost me,” he said. “I went too fast and didn’t put a twist in one of my elements. It was a very strong final and it’s a bit disappointing because it cost me a potential silver medal.”

Willerton, who became the first Brit to win the world individual tumbling title in 2013, shouldn’t be too harsh on himself because he has struggled with injury for much of this year.

“I tore my calf at the end of last year,” he explained. “It’s been tough because it’s given me an Achilles problem which I’ve had to manage.”

The evidence would suggest that it’s a problem he’s managed pretty well!